M&P 9mm compact with mag xtension

[rsmoree]

Tell me your thoughts on the Smith and Wesson 9mm compact with the extended mag for CCW.


Scottie

 

[JBP55]

The M&P compact is one of many good choices for a carry pistol.

 

[JNieman]

It's what I carry. I carry it comfortably in my Comp-Tac Minotaur IWB holster easily concealed in tshirt, tucked in polo or button up, or work shirt. I've only been 'made' by people who bumped into it and felt the hard small brick on my hip (obv if I let them that close, I didn't care if they knew) and by one person 'in the know' who spotted a strange contour when I was bent in an unusual angle.

I don't know anything about the mag extensions though. I carried a full size for a while but found it hard to conceal the full size grip as well. If you're going to get a mag extension, and can carry it well, do yourself a favor and just get a full size, or even a long-slide version, and give yourself the bonus of an additionally lengthened sight radius. Barrel length is easier to conceal than grip length.

I carry it all day every day. I initially bought it as a backup to my full size, like I said, and now I'm actually going to be cutting the grip on my full size to compact-length so it takes compact mags. That way I can carry the longer slide.

Shoots like a dream, maintains easily..

However I will say that the trigger sucks dog nuts OOTB. I took a class with Tom Givens not terribly long after getting the full size gun - maybe had a couple hundred through it at the time. Put 1300 through it in the class, iirc. Some time aroudn the 1500 round mark, the trigger reset was 100% vanished. It was lessened throughout the class, and it was barely there in the first place, as it was. Aroudn the 1500 round mark however, even if I took my time, slowly let out the trigger after a shot, I couldn't feel, hear, or notice any sign that the trigger had reset. This means that I had to basically do a full take-up every time I shot, slowing my followup shots slightly, and possibly reducing my potential accuracy a bit.

I solved this by getting the Apex DCAEK kit. I've only got a couple mags through it as I -just- bought it from a user on the board here. Some S&W reps came to the shop one day (I work at RJF) and a coworker who also loves M&Ps and I were BS'ing with them briefly, makin' with the professional chit-chat and what not. We were praising the M&P pistols but brought up our mutual disdain for the trigger. The S&W reps even put the Apex DCAEK in their pistols and call it an absolute must modification. That was slightly disheartening to me. It's like S&W knows it sucks, but hasn't done dick about it.

However, I just can't used to a Glock. I don't like Springfield's XDs, and I can't find anything overall better than the S&W for what I want. Thus I stick with the M&Ps and spend a little extra on mods.

I shoot a lot, so honestly, the gun is not the major expense for me. $100-150 more on an M&P because of parts replacement, when it's all done? Worth it, for a better gun, imo. I have probably dumped $800 in 9mm ammo in the past year through my pistols, not counting $600 or so on training, hundreds on competition, not to mention gas to get around.... so if I were to get all butthurt over having to spend $100 more on a S&W to make the trigger better than any other polymer pistol I've finger-banged... I'd be stupid. Then again, I bought the model with the extra, threaded, barrel, and sold the barrel for like $90 to a user, here, a while back, so that kinda makes the DCAEK a wash. You can probably sell the barrel for more than I did. I sometimes underprice my **** because I just wanna sell it ASAP, usually.

Now, sights. I only have models with the 3 big white dots. They're great when new. However, if it's your carry gun, your rear sight will quickly will up with ****. Lint, dust, crud, normal everyday stuff. Keep that in mind. I have to routinely clear the crap out and just recently had to reapply some bright white paint to the sights. This is after every-day (and I mean every) carry for the past 11 months. The sights are easy as **** to replace, however. I've had my rear sight out already, when changing the striker stop plunger when replacing some parts with the DCAEK kit. I would honestly get whatever package has the cheapest sights. I doubt any 'upgraded' sight package they have is worth the price. Typically they overcharge for it. Then just buy aftermarket sights with a good reputation that suit your situation.

I think the M&Pc is the best choice, but the reasons that make it 'best' to me, have personal reasons such as ergonomic preferences, modular/replaceable grip panels (what feels good in your hand in the store, might not feel as good after 200 rounds, or after someone like Tom Givens shows you that you're holding the gun ****ing wrong anyways, and find out the smaller panels will help you) and I also like the slide serrations better.
However, the M&P, like some comparable guns, reach a point of performance and reliability where it is just going to be as flawless as you could ever expect it to be, so the decision often comes down to personal preference matters anyways.

I've got several thousand rounds through my full size and probably 1,000 through my compact. I've fed it lots of different hollow points, ballistic tipped Hornady CD, shitty dirty Wolf/Tula/S&B/Herters, steel cased, brass cased, WWB, Remington UMC, and everything between. I've yet to have a single malfunction. I'm serious about that. It's kinda ****ed up how good the record is. It's beyond reasonable expectations, I think. It seems like every gun should have anomalies where it has a malf... I can't remember one. It'll happen some day, I'm sure.

 

[olivs260]

If you're going to use the mag extension when concealing, you almost may as well use a full-size mag. The difference in length is not great between the two, and you get an extra 5 shots out of it. If you don't like how it feels with just a full-size mag sticking out, check out X-Grips.

 

[JNieman]

Damn I sure can talk a lot sometimes.

 

[Vigilante Sniper]

I carry it also, mine has the Apex kit with RAM and factory nifht sights, my favorite carry gun so far.

 

[Russo]

i have 14 round mag extensions for the .45, they work

 

[rsmoree]

Thanks for the info. My wife has the full size M&P 9 and I like it. Will the compact take a regular short magazine and also the x grip? I could just use the x grip mag for a back up.

Scottie

 

[JNieman]

What's the point of the X-Grip? You can use a full-size (17 rounds of 9mm) mag in a compact just fine. Is it just to give you cushy rubbery goodness?

My first concern about it is that if it's misaligned while pulling it from concealment, and pulling it up to your gun, will it cause you to fumble while trying to seat the mag, or otherwise make it harder to seat the mag into your gun?

I started carrying a full-size mag as a backup mag, but I see no reason to go with the X-Grip, really, and do have some hesitations about the product.

 

[rsmoree]

What's the point of the X-Grip? You can use a full-size (17 rounds of 9mm) mag in a compact just fine. Is it just to give you cushy rubbery goodness?

My first concern about it is that if it's misaligned while pulling it from concealment, and pulling it up to your gun, will it cause you to fumble while trying to seat the mag, or otherwise make it harder to seat the mag into your gun?

I started carrying a full-size mag as a backup mag, but I see no reason to go with the X-Grip, really, and do have some hesitations about the product.

Gotcha. I have never seen the x-grip in person just on the smith web site. I will just cary the full size as a back up.


Scottie

 

[JNieman]

FWIW, I've never seen an X-Grip in person, so don't take me as an expert on the things. They might stay in place really well and negate my concerns. I was just raising an eyebrow, looking at them. The only positive they would really supply would be a place for your pinky, really. That is, if you don't want your pinky trailing onto the steel fullsize-mag body as it sticks out further than a compact mag. I'd try it if someone had for free, but it doesn't look like something I'd pay to investigate unless someone I really trusted said it's good-to-go... and even then, I dunno.

 

[rsmoree]

How would you rate the compacts accuracy compared to the full size on a scale of 1-10. I know the shorter sight picture is a factor.

Scottie

 

[JBP55]

How would you rate the compacts accuracy compared to the full size on a scale of 1-10. I know the shorter sight picture is a factor.

Scottie

The sight radius should not be a factor at defensive pistol range.

 

[Sin-ster]

How would you rate the compacts accuracy compared to the full size on a scale of 1-10. I know the shorter sight picture is a factor.

Scottie

You'll almost certainly never notice the difference-- especially at the pertinent ranges, as JBP suggests.

It's not a gun you're going to be tasking with 1" groups at 25 yards, or 3" at 50. A 5" Pro with factory ammo won't claim that anyway, unless you get extremely lucky in the one you purchase. But you can easily hold COM/an IPSC metric A-zone at every possible distance you'll ever need to use it-- and that's more than adequate.

You'll lose magazine capacity over the FS, obviously. Most people lose a little bit of speed as well, due to increased muzzle flip and the higher propensity for the sights to track in a funky manner. Again-- you probably won't notice that, either. But that's why the G19 is so popular-- it gives up very little in comparison to the FS G17, but comes in a notably smaller package. Sadly, there's no in-between size for the M&P-- you've got FS and you've got Compact.

You will almost certainly want to do something with the trigger, and replace the factory sights. The DCAEK is by far the easiest option, with the addition of the RAM. I've yet to try out the FSS, not sure what it looks like in terms of a defensive gun, but it might be something to look in to. Both of my M&P's (.45 FS for carry, 9 Pro for games) have Dan Burwell trigger work-- the first, a basic job meant for carry (right at 4.5 pounds) and the second, the full custom number (around 2, with pre and over travel almost entirely removed). They are both out of this world. I was lucky to get the first one in shortly before he got permanently slammed; the 9 Pro took some begging, pestering and name dropping. For the average person, it's probably best to just go with the APEX and be done with it-- although TBH, the use of all factory springs in the Burwell guns is a huge advantage in my book. No risk of light strikes is GREAT peace of mind.

Sight-wise, you've got a ton of options thanks to the popularity of the platform. Essentially, if they make it for a Glock, they make it for an M&P. The Ameriglo "Hack" with the iDot or whatever up front is my choice-- little tritium vial with a huge orange donut, flat black rear. I'd also consider the Warren or Warren/Sevigny's (on my game guns now) in the same configuration. The final decision is going to be left up to you, and what your eyes prefer. I'll say that very few (if any) of the most accomplished pistol shooters I know favor 3-dots these days, while those that do typically sport a VERY indistinct set on the rear-- Pro Ameriglo's that are basically blacked out until it's dark, very dim yellow tritiums, etc. At the same time, this requires a lot more experience to properly index the sights-- especially in the dark! If you can't draw/bring the gun up and have a near-perfect sight picture every time, the flat black rear can be a killer.

If you've got the time and the cash, the best way is to experiment on your own-- with your own gun and sights that interest you. It can get pricey after a while, though... so do what you can!

Performance wise, you won't be giving up anything of note with the compact over the FS-- other than capacity. And in the case of the M&P, it's really not that many extra rounds anyway. You absolutely, positively should be carrying an extra magazine with you anyway-- not for some "extended gunfight", but for the sake of malfunctions alone.

 

[SpeedRacer]

I carried an M&P-9 compact for a couple years. Very easy to carry/conceal, and very easy to shoot at speed. I also carried a 17rd mag as a spare, no grip extension doodads necessary. The only thing I did do was swap out the fullsize floorplate on the 17rd mag for one of the smaller compact floorplates.

Looks like everything else was covered by the usual suspects!

 

[rsmoree]

Thanks for the input.

Scottie

 

[olivs260]

What's the point of the X-Grip? You can use a full-size (17 rounds of 9mm) mag in a compact just fine. Is it just to give you cushy rubbery goodness?

Exactly this. I picked up a couple of them cheap a while back, and I find I shoot a little better with the X-grip than without. I use my 12-rd mags only for when I need deep concealment now. Regardless of what I carry, I have a FS spare mag, no X-grip. Sometimes I find myself carrying the compact with FS mag, and in that case I will use the X-grip. But for my backup mag, I don't worry about it. If it ever gets to the point of deploying my backup, I don't think any special ninja grippiness will be what saves my ass

 

[DAUC]

I have the M&P9c with each of the 12rd magazines, and one FS magazine with the Xgrip. I love the extra amount of grip. It is my go to mag unless I am concealed carrying. For next to the bed/ riding in the car/ going to the range the xgrip is perfect. I also find that some of my left palm also rests on the extra grip that doesn't exist for the compact mags, which gives me the feel of more control. I shoot with all three mags when I go to the range and having the full size grip feels better. Can not honestly say whether I shoot better with it.

One thing I would not do with the xgrip is use it for by backup mag. If I carry another mag on me when concealed, it is the other compact mag. The reason here is that the xgrip does not really stay put on the magazine. it just slides on, so it could just slide off. You could easily make it stay in place, just an observation I have had. It also takes some extra effort to seat the magazine fully. So, like I said, I love mine, but would not use it as my backup. the full size mag and xgrip is the setup I use the most.